How much of The Redemption of Don Juan Casanova based upon his life experiences? Does he have any more storylines in mind for this character? Out of all the books this author has written, which one is his favorite? Is there a special place he has set aside to write?
You used to work in a nightclub. And Don Juan Casanova was also a teacher. How much of this book is based on that part of your life?
This is an interesting question with a complicated answer. In the early 1980s, to say I kept myself busy would be an understatement. I was just coming out of my first marriage and the divorce was ugly and expensive. To get my mind off the stress, a friend suggested that I should keep busy, and I also had to earn more money to pay for the lawyer. That’s why I ended up with a second job as a maître d’ in a nightclub in addition to teaching full time.
During the days Monday through Friday, I was teaching. Wednesday through Saturday nights, I was at the nightclub often to midnight or later, and I also worked Sunday Brunch. On Monday and Tuesday night, I left my classroom at the end of the school day and drove in the opposite direction toward California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, because I was also working toward an MFA in writing. I don’t know when I slept.
During those frenzied years, in one class at Cal Poly, I decided to do a research project on the art of seduction. I thought that my maître d’ job might come in handy for this project, but first I researched the topic and discovered that there had been scientific studies using hidden cameras. I also had an old friend who I knew was a lothario like the real Casanova was. During this project, I met him for drinks a few times and he told me all about his methods and his philosophy about rejection and seduction. I learned from him that rejection is part of the art of seduction and that when a girl says no, it is not something to get depressed about.
Next, I put what I was learning to the test when I was working at the nightclub. I approached the general manager and told him what I wanted to do, and he said, “Sure, go ahead,” but watching me in action made him nervous, so he made himself scarce. What’s amazing is that everything I learned about the art of seduction was true and being rejected is part of the game. A true Casanova respects and still loves all women even those who reject him. Enough said.
That was when the other employees at the nightclub christened me Disco Lloyd. I like Disco Don better. LOL
And like my character, after that job ended, I decided I’d rather be with one woman in a quality relationship than chasing after every attractive skirt that crossed my path. All the murders in the novel are fiction, of course, but many of the characters are based on real people like my older brother. Even the pimp we meet early in the story was a real life character who drove out of Hollywood to party at the Red Onion where I worked. I met a lot of interesting people late at night from that front desk lobby.
Each of your books I have read – Running with the Enemy, Crazy is Normal – is based on some part of your life. Do you always draw inspiration for your books from your life experiences?
Not always. For instance, My Splendid Concubine, my first novel, was historical fiction based on the life of a young man from Ireland and his relationship with his Chinese concubine who he had three children with in mid-19th century China. But yes, for Running with the Enemy, I borrowed from my experience as a former U.S. Marine who fought in Vietnam, and Crazy is Normal is a memoir that covers one of the thirty years I was a teacher in the public schools.
But my next novel will be a mixture of historical fiction, science fiction, and fantasy. I don’t think I’ll be drawing any inspiration from my own life experiences for this story, because the main character is Merlin in the 21st century. The story will include not only time travel and aliens but there will also be vampires and other supernatural creatures. And there will be an elusive love story with a shape-shifting dragon.
Your main character was groomed even by his grandparents for the lifestyle he now wants to escape. Do you feel that a person raised under such circumstances can really change the way he lives? Do you feel that redemption is out there waiting for him?
Yes, throughout the novel Don Juan Casanova is searching for redemption. For instance, as Don struggles with his addiction to seduction, at the same time he is dedicating himself to helping abused women. One young woman he ends up helping is a nineteen-year-old prostitute. Early in the novel, he risks his life to save her from an abusive pimp, and he refuses to give up on her as he struggles to keep her off the streets and out of his bed.
There are so many secrets in your book. Did you know them all before you began to write? Did you make notes so you wouldn’t confuse them?
I often plot my stories in my head before I start writing the rough draft, and, then, as I’m writing the story, complications and the reactions of the characters will often change the direction of the plot. When I finish a rough draft, I’ll sit down and create a colored flow chart to see how all the plot threads work together and make sure I don’t leave any of them dangling.
How long did it take you to come up with such an appropriate title?
For this novel, it took years to come up with the title. When I first start a manuscript, I seldom have a title that I want to use, so I come up with a dull working title and when ideas for better titles come along, I add them to the list. Eventually, I brainstorm and add to that list and then move words around creating new combinations.
How easy was it for you to decide to name your main character Don Juan Casanova? Were there other names you considered for him?
I think I knew I wanted to call him Don Juan Casanova from the beginning because of the real life Casanova and the fictional Don Juan—both well-known lotharios from history and literature. I even checked the phone book to make sure there were families with Casanova as a last name.
Do you have any more storylines in mind for Don Juan Casanova?
Yes, I do have more story ideas for this character, but this novel would have to sell enough copies to make it worth my time to return to his fictional life to write a sequel. For instance, due to the success of My Splendid Concubine, I have considered writing more books about Robert Hart. After all, Concubine only covers his first decade in China, and he arrived in 1854 and didn’t leave until early in the 20th century more than fifty years later before the Qing Dynasty collapsed.
When you write, do you need complete silence or will your muse still create with chaos going on around you?
When I was younger, I didn’t need complete silence. I could write in the middle of a three-ring circus, but now I find that I’m easily distracted by noise, and chaos derails any ideas I’m having about my characters and the conflicts they are dealing with.
Out of all the books you have written, which one is your favorite? Why?
I think my favorite book so far would have to be My Splendid Concubine, because it’s about the life of an amazing man who went to China at the age of 19 to learn Chinese and be an interpreter for the British consulate, but within a decade he’s the most powerful westerner in China and works for the Emperor. I’ve read his personal letters and his journals and they reveal an incredible life. Almost every other Westerner who went to China went to get rich by abusing and/or cheating the Chinese, but not him. Instead, he becomes fascinated with the Chinese and their culture and falls in love with the country and its people with help from his concubine. Then he wants to save China so it doesn’t become another oppressed colony of a European power like India, South American, North American and most of Africa did.
Do you have a special place set aside in your house where you go to write? If so, is there some special way you have the room decorated for inspiration? If not, where do you write?
Our house is built into a steep hillside and the second story is where the kitchen, dining room, living room, and three main bedrooms are located. My study, where I do all my writing, is on the lower level far from the kitchen and living room, and it is so secluded that even if there is loud music shaking the walls upstairs, I don’t hear a hint of that noise in what my wife and daughter call my bunker. From the street to the back of the property, it is about seven stories and even the first floor is higher than the houses across the street. If I want to see one of those houses, I have to stand up and look down toward the street level. From where I sit, I mostly see a forest of treetops that are usually swaying with the breeze.
In fact, there is a post on my blog that’s about that room, and here’s the link. I sat in my chair in the middle of the room and took photos of each wall. Let me invite you into my writer’s cave.
http://lloydlofthouse.org/2014/07/18/a-writers-cave-heres-mine/
Recommended Articles:
The Redemption of Don Juan Casanova – a Review
Running with the Enemy – a Review
Lloyd Lofthouse Interview – Writing, Characters,and Vietnam
Crazy is Normal – a Review
How Public Schools in the US Have Improved – Guest Post by Lloyd Lofthouse
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